Chapter 19: Mayhem at the Ministry

Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People

Creepin Up the Backstairs by The Fratellis

I'm a Wanted Man by Royal Deluxe

Elara woke early the next morning. The sun was still below the horizon and the birds had yet to begin their early morning chirping. She sat up in her bed and realized Hermione was absent as well. Knowing that Hermione shared her nerves over what they would be doing later in the morning, she assumed she was downstairs in the dining room, taking an early morning tea.

She wasn't wrong.

Hermione sat at the table, a book open to the left of her as she scribbled on a roll of parchment to the right. She had a mug of steaming tea in front of her and she looked to be completely absorbed into whatever she was jotting down.

"Been awake all night?" Elara asked, taking the spot across from Hermione at the table and muttering a 'thanks' to Kreacher when he brought her a mug of tea.

"No," Hermione said. She looked up from the parchment and pulled her mug to her lips, taking a long sip before setting the ceramic back to the table. "I've been up about an hour."

Elara drank half her tea down, rubbing at the burning in her eyes as she blinked heavily. She was still exhausted. Weeks of less than stellar sleep was beginning to take its toll on all of the inhabitants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but she shook it off. Knowing that even if she went back to bed, sleep would evade her.

"I think I've got all the details ironed out," Hermione announced. "I stuck a few extra things in your bag, so make sure you grab it before we leave. Just in case."

Elara nodded, "I will."

"I think we should leave a bit earlier than planned as well. Just to make sure we don't miss anyone. The welcome witch you're impersonating doesn't seem to have the most consistent schedule. She arrived in a ten minute window before or after half eight the last week. I'm not sure if she's early or late or-

"Breathe, Hermione." Elara chuckled. "We can go early. I'm sure the boys will be up soon, if they aren't already. I doubt Harry would disagree with you."

"Sorry," Hermione sighed, rolling her head on her shoulders before rubbing the back of her neck. "I just… I don't know exactly how this is going to play out. And I don't like not knowing."

"There's a lot we don't know right now," Elara pointed out. "I imagine getting the locket is only going to give us more questions without answers."

She looked down to the bracelet on her wrist and twisted it around several times. It had become something she did to try and steady her nerves, but it never really worked. If anything, it just gave her mind something else to focus on for a moment.

"I don't think you should take your potion today," Hermione said. "I think knowing the emotions of people around us will be an advantage. Do you think you can control it enough to not take the potion?"

"I'll be fine without it," She said. "I was thinking the same thing. It will give me an idea if anyone is suspicious of us. I can use the coin to let you all know."

Her fingers instantly left her bracelet to touch the sickle pendant she wore around her neck. Hermione had gotten them on chains and handed them out the night before. After testing them between the four of them, they decided they worked. With the new charms added to them, they couldn't leave messages as long as they did before. Only a few words at most now. But it would work for what they needed them for, and most importantly, they were untraceable.

The sickle hung below the sunflower on the end of the dainty chain that Emiliana Zabini had given to Elara last Christmas. She made the mental note that after today, she would ask Hermione to make another untraceable sickle to send to Blaise once they were back in the safety of Grimmauld Place. She could sneak to the public owlery in Diagon Alley and send him an envelope with the sickle to Hogwarts.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Harry and Ron entered the dining room. Both looking worse for wear and as if they barely managed an hour or two of sleep. As they took their seats, Kreacher brought out breakfast and filled a teapot for them to share.

They began talking over the details of the plan again. Going over and over the same plan they had been drafting for the last few weeks. They all knew every single movement they would be making in the two hour time frame they had at the Ministry. Before Hermione could even begin to recite her list of notes, they began talking them point by point.

As the sun finally broke through the dirty windows and shone its warm light over them, the nerves began to sink further into all of them. Without the dampening potion to help, Elara felt more on edge than usual and excused herself to take a quick shower and change. Thankful for the quarter hour of peace she would get before what was sure to be a very hectic morning.

She pulled her jeans on before yanking her light jumper over her head. She gathered her hair into a bun at the top of her head and grumbled in the mirror as the few stubborn strands refused to stay in place and fell over her face. After slipping into socks and tying the laces of her trainers tight, she opened the door and jumped when she (quite literally) smacked into Harry.

"Harry!" She laughed, shaking her head. "You startled me!"

"Sorry," He said, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. "I didn't mean to."

"What's wrong?" She asked, frowning as she looked over him. "You feel very anxious."

"I am very anxious." He said.

"I think we all are."

He nodded and then dipped his head to claim her lips. His lips lingered over hers for much longer than a normal kiss, as if he was pushing all of his doubts into the kiss and trying to make himself confident through it. When he pulled away, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest, pressing his face into her hair.

"What's this for?" She asked, feeling uncertain about the seemingly random kiss and snuggle.

"I can't kiss my girlfriend?" He chuckled.

"You can," She said. "On any normal day, I wouldn't be concerned. But on a day that we're all risking getting thrown in Azkaban to break into the Ministry of Magic? It feels a little different."

He sighed, pulling away from her and looking into her eyes. "It is, isn't it? Different today, I mean. I know we've gone over the plans a thousand times and…" He trailed off, heaving a heavy sigh. "I just want to say that I love you. And I'm sorry I've been such a total fucking prick-

"Don't say that," She said, scrunching up her face to show her distaste at the word choice.

He laughed, "Sorry. I'm sorry I've been… I don't know a better phrase."

She chuckled and tapped her chin in thought. "How about, an insufferably angry git?"

He threw his head back as he barked a loud laugh. "Yeah, all right. An insufferably angry git, then."

"You know," She began. "I accept your apology. But I would think that for the Chosen One, you would have had a better vocabulary."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her into another embrace. "Thank you," He said.

"What for?"

"Because before you, I don't think I would have cared to do any of this."

"Any of this?" She asked, pulling back from him and arching an eyebrow as she frowned. "Yes you would have, Harry. Saving people is in your blood. It's part of you. I have nothing to do with that."

"That may be true," He agreed. "But before you I wouldn't have had my own reasons for doing it."

"Your own reasons?"

"You." He said, as if it were the simplest thing. "In just over a year, you've completely changed me, Ellie. I wasn't sure before… I wasn't sure that I would die for this cause. I wasn't sure that if it came down to it, it was something I could do. But now, I could. I would die for you easily, if it meant that you were safe. That you would be okay. And that you didn't have to go home to a maniac living in your house. I don't know what's going to happen today and-

"Harry, stop." She said, tears building in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him against her. She breathed in the smell of him, broom polish and treacle. "Why are you talking like this? We aren't going to die today."

"I just wanted to tell you, in case anything should happen. I love you. I won't stop fighting until this is over, until you can go home without being tortured or killed."

"I love you too, Harry."

Elara and Hermione apparated to the alley on the side of an old cinema, first. They waited only four minutes before the welcome witch appeared and Elara stunned her. They dragged her body into the building and Elara quickly took the robes from the woman, muttering her apologies as she went through her bag to nick the identification badge and Ministry of Magic coins from the witch.

"Marianne Cleary," Elara said, showing the badge to Hermione. "She's not only a welcome witch, see here?" She pointed to the title under the name on the badge. "She's a stenographer for the Wizengamot."

"That could be useful," Hermione said, handing Elara the phial of thick muddy potion.

Once Mafalda Hopkirk approached, she was stunned and her body deposited with the Marianne Cleary's. Hermione and Elara both changed into the robes of the witches they were impersonating and waited for Harry and Ron to arrive. After about twenty minutes, a soft pop alerted them to their arrival in the alley.

Harry and Ron were already wearing the robes of the wizards they stunned on the opposite side of the building. At once, each of them dropped their hairs into the phials and waited for the colors to change. Once downing the potion and a few more minutes of the unpleasant changes to their frames, they parted from the alley.

Harry and Ron making their way to the men's restroom and Hermione and Elara to the women's.

The lines weren't long as they entered the stalls side by side. Elara stared at the toilet, wondering what exactly they were supposed to be doing with the loo.

"We flush ourselves in," Hermione whispered over the top of the stall.

Elara looked up, a grimace on her face as she nodded and stepped into the toilet bowl. She was relieved that while the water looked to be in the porcelain basin, it did not soak through her robes or shoes. She was sure had that happened, she would have been sick. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the chain and tugged it.

Her stomach flipped as she slid down a chute and landed in the Atrium. She looked around to see that she had been spit out of the fireplaces, much like she would have had she taken the Floo. She quickly scanned the area and found the desk that Marianne would be working.

She adjusted her bag on her back, having placed a disillusionment on the knapsack before taking it with her this morning. She was nervous it would be noticeable, that the straps of the bag were making the shoulders of her robes appear disjointed. She cast a quick notice-me-not charm and sped her way to the desk.

"Morning," A portly witch with grey hair and horn rimmed glasses said.

"Morning," Elara replied, Marianne Cleary's voice sounding much different than her own. "Sorry I'm a bit late today."

"Don't apologize to me. You're supposed to be in the hearing rooms today, aren't you?"

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, I had completely forgotten. Thank you for reminding me."

The older witch eyed her and Elara could feel her suspicion before she parted from the desk and walked toward the lifts. When the doors clanged open, she sighed in relief to see the only inhabitants were Ron, Harry, and Hermione in their polyjuiced forms. Hermione had a quill and a piece of parchment and was scribbling down notes that she was furiously explaining to Ron in a hushed voice.

"Good Morning," Harry grumbled.

"Harry, it's me." Elara said.

Ron and Hermione both looked up and smiled at her.

"I thought you were working the welcome desk?" Harry asked.

"I did too," She said. "Turns out, Marianne Cleary is also a stenographer for the Wizengamot and I'm supposed to be in the courtrooms right now, taking notes on the proceedings."

"Shit," Ron said. "Sorry- I mean… Shit."

"I do think shit is an appropriate response to this," Elara said.

Harry and Ron both chuckled.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked. "Will you be-

"I'll be fine," Elara assured them. "Just make sure you find the locket and I'll figure out a way to get out of the courtrooms by the time we need to leave."

She pulled the sickle out from under her robes and took it off her neck, shrinking the chain to fit around her wrist instead. "This way, I can keep in contact with you easier than using it as a necklace. That might bring some attention to me if I'm staring at a sickle dangling from my neck."

"Good thinking," Hermione smiled.

When the soft voice called "Courtrooms" in the lift, Elara stepped out, nearly running into a short, toad-faced woman with a pink bow on her hat. Her eyes grew wide as the realization of who the woman was hit her. Just before the grates of the lift clanged shut, Elara's eyes met Harry's and he gave a sharp nod.

"Madam Umbridge," Elara said. "I apologize. I didn't mean to run into you."

"I was worried I would have to find someone to fill your place as stenographer today, Marianne. You're quite late." Her high pitched voice was dripping with forced pleasantry.

"I do apologize, ma'am. My- erm, cat was sick this morning you see," Elara said, trying to remember all of the details that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone over with her about Umbridge.

"Oh, poor thing." She said, making a tutting sound. "I do hope the little dear is all right."

"She'll be fine. Ate something bad, I think." Elara said. "Shall we continue on, into the court rooms?"

"You go on," Umbridge said. "I'll be a few moments. I need to gather a few things before we begin the trials today. We'll be in courtroom four."

Trials. Elara nodded and moved forward toward the door leading to the courtrooms. She pushed the heavy door open and instantly felt sick. A terrifying feel of dread seeped into her bones and a shiver tore up her spine. Dementors? They have Dementors here?! She quickly pulled her coin into her hands and sent a message.

Dementors rm 4
EM

She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to steady the thundering of her heart as she opened the door to courtroom four and passed through the threshold. Eyes fell to her as she crossed the room, her shoes clicking against the stone floor as she made her way to the empty desk at the corner of the room. She tried to keep her eyes trained in front of her, ignoring the urge to look up at the Dementors circling above her.

There was a silvery cat pacing the dais, where Elara assumed Umbridge would be seated when she returned to the room. She quickly slid into her seat, staring down at the parchment and quill already on the desk. She picked up the quill and felt the magic pool under her fingers. Quick quote quill, she thought.

In the courtroom, a single chair was in the center, unoccupied at the moment. On the dais, to either side of the empty chair in the front, were about a dozen witches and wizards. They all wore plum robes with a large golden "W" on the front. She surveyed them for a moment, trying to place the faces. Many of them were Death Eaters. There were a few open seats on the end for people she assumed hadn't shown up yet.

Her attention was brought back to the door when a "hem hem" filled the echo of the room. Umbridge walked in, holding her head high as she crossed the floor and made her way to the center seat of the platform. She adjusted the stack of papers in her hands and began talking amongst the other members of the Wizengamot.

"We've got what, a dozen to go through today?" A deep voice called from the far side of the seating.

"Eleven." Umbridge corrected him. "And with any luck, all eleven will be sent to Azkaban today!"

Elara's stomach churned at the comment. Eleven muggle-born witches and wizards that would be left to rot in Azkaban simply because of their blood. She felt her chest grow tight as she tried to bury the tears that were burning in her eyes. She felt nauseous. How was she supposed to just sit here and pretend to record these hearings? How could she not-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Umbridge leaned forward. The light hit her chest just right and the glinting of a large gold locket with an "S" engraved on the front stole Elara's attention from her own thoughts. She felt a surge of energy pulse through her as she began to try and figure out how she was supposed to get the locket.

Perhaps she could cause a distraction of some sort? She was now regretting taking the polyjuice potion. If she would have just transfigured herself, she could show who she was… That would certainly be enough to cause a hiccough in the day. She could then just… What? Stun them all? A dozen Death Eaters and blood purists?

She tilted her head to the side in thought, chewing it over.

It wasn't the worst idea she'd ever had. If she was able to prove who she was, no doubt she wouldn't be killed. Arrested? Absolutely. But she highly doubted any of the members of the Wizengamot or Death Eaters alike would want the blood of a dead Malfoy on their hands. Especially a Malfoy that had an insanely large cash reward attached to her head. A Malfoy that was the daughter of the wealthiest man in Wizarding Britain. A Malfoy that the Dark Lord himself wanted to keep as a pet.

No, she wouldn't be killed.

She looked down at the watch she had on, it had only been forty five minutes since she had taken the polyjuice potion. Only a little over an hour until she could show herself. She tapped her toes anxiously against the floor, hoping the hearing would hurry up and start already so she could have a distraction until the time came.

She drew in a deep breath, trying to fight off the freezing dread in her bones as she thought of Harry and the strange conversation they had this morning. It sounded like he was preparing for death. Had he known? Had he known that one of them would be captured? He likely assumed it would be himself but Elara had already decided that would happen over her dead body.

Harry could absolutely under no circumstances be captured today.

She felt the heat of the charmed sickle on her wrist and she looked around to make sure no one was paying any attention to her. She shook the bracelet down her arm and lifted the sleeve of her robe to see a message.

Decoys set lvl 1

HP

She took in a shaking breath, holding the coin as she replied.

Locket w me
EM

She hoped he understood that it meant that the office was empty. That he would be risking unnecessary damage by entering. She closed her eyes and took in another shaky breath as the doors to the courtroom opened once more to reveal Hermione disguised as Mafalda Hopkirk.

"Mafalda!" Umbridge said. "Glad you could join us. I trust you were able to look over the wands I left for you?"

"Yes," She replied, her eyes falling to the golden locket hanging against Umbridge's robes. "I did not find anything suspicious."

"Hm," Umbridge said. "We'll see about that."

The doors opened once more to reveal a tall man that Elara instantly recognized as the Death Eater Yaxley. He had the upper arm of a middle aged witch in his grasp. The poor woman looked absolutely terrified, her eyes wide as she realized there were Dementors circling above them all. Yaxley roughly shoved the witch into the chair in the center of the room and took his seat at the end of the row on the platform.

"We begin this hearing today of Mary Elizabeth Cattermole to…"

Whatever words were said by Umbridge after that, Elara didn't hear. Cattermole. Oh, Merlin! How could we have missed this?! Elara thought, the sinking in her stomach growing worse by the second. She was frustrated. How could they not check into the families of the people they were impersonating? How did they miss that wizard Ron was currently polyjuiced as, had a muggle-born wife?!

Mary Cattermole was absolutely terrified. Elara could feel it pulsing off the small woman in waves. She confirmed all questions asked about her name, husband, and children. A wand was held up and described by Umbridge and as the words left the toad's mouth, Elara shook with anger.

"...And who did you steal this wand from?"

"Steal?" Mary Cattermole cried. "I didn't steal it! I bought it! At Ollivander's when I was eleven! Just before I went to Hogwarts! It chose me!"

"You're a Mudblood, are you not?" Umbridge said, her sickeningly sweet voice laced with venom.

"I'm a muggle-born! M-my mum said that I started showing magic at the age of s-seven!" Mary Cattermole was sobbing now, hot tears cutting down her cheeks. "I went to Hogwarts in 1968! Please! I-I didn't s-steal anything!"

"That's quite enough," Umbridge said, glaring at the woman as she continued to accuse her of stealing magic.

Just as Elara had heard enough and was working up the courage to say something, the door opened again and Ron entered, looking over his shoulder before back to the center of the floor. A now restrained Mary Cattermole, sobbed loudly as her 'husband' entered the room.

"Reg!" She cried. "Reg! You h-have to t-tell them! We m-m-met at Hogwarts and…" Her cries were lost to Elara as she heard a voice whisper from behind her.

"I'm behind you, I see the locket. We have to get it."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in from her nose and tried to steady her thoughts. The fear and panic from Mary Cattermole was almost consuming and the aching in her bones from the presence of the Dementors was making it hard to concentrate. She caught Hermione's eyes and mouthed "Harry" with a small backward jerk of her head.

"What do we do?" Elara breathed. "I-I don't know what to do. They're going to send this woman to Azkaban, Harry."

"Calm down. I haven't got a plan yet… But, but I guess I'll just… Stupefy!" He said, pointing his wand at Umbridge.

The witch slumped forward as a jet of red light hit her square in the chest. Hermione jumped to her feet, stunning Yaxley. Harry pulled the cloak off of him and stuffed it in his robes.

"Ron, get her untied!" Harry called.

"I've got the locket!" Hermione yelled, making her way to the unconscious body of Dolores Umbridge.

Elara jumped to her feet and began shooting off stunners at the remaining members of the Wizengamot, knocking them unconscious one by one with Harry's help.

"I can't! I can't get the chains undone! Harry! Help!" Ron yelled.

As Harry sprinted to the center of the room, the realization that the silvery cat was gone hit Elara and at the same time, the Dementors began closing in. She shook with panic as her breath stilled in her chest. She fell to her knees as they began to descend, likely sensing the unnatural amount of emotion held within her soul and mind. She whimpered, trying to come up with anything to conjure a patronus. She knew it would be useless, no marked Death Eater had ever successfully done it. She thought hard, trying to come up with every single happy memory she could think of.

"It has to be the best memory you can think of. The feeling of happiness is what you need." Harry's words pulsed through her mind from when he had tried to teach her weeks ago, without success.

"Ex-expecto Patronum!" She said, a wisp of silver light dying almost as quickly as it was conjured. "Harry! Harry I can't! I can't conjure a Patronus!"

"Shit." Harry said, looking over his shoulder from where he stood in the center of the room.

Fear as cold as ice seeped through her mind, tearing into her brain and stealing the breath from her chest. She fell onto her back, scuffling backward trying to get away from the cloaked figures descending upon her. She could feel tears burning her freezing skin as the images of Voldemort gripping her face overwhelmed her. The feel of his razor sharp nails cutting into the underside of her chin as he laughed in her face encompassed her mind. Crimson red eyes staring into hers as the lingering feel of Cruciatus curse casted by her brother ripped up her spine.

She cried out, terror choking her sobs as she tried to think of anything else.

"The two most intelligent witches in hogwarts with us and they both struggle with a patronus!" Harry grumbled. "Expecto Patronum!"

Elara blinked several times as a large silver stag poured from the tip of Harry's wand. The warmth that flooded her senses was dizzying as she gulped in several deep breaths. Harry's hand wrapped around her elbow as he heaved her to her feet.

"You have to cast one, Ellie." He said, his tone urgent. "There's more on the other side of that door. If we're going to get through to the exit, you have to cast a Patronus."

"No p-pressure." She stammered, her tone bitter as she looked around the room. She was still shaking, the fear still present, still consuming her mind.

Mary Cattermole was clinging to Ron, sobbing in his arms. Ron held his wand out, a small Jack Russell Terrier chasing the Dementors with the help of a silvery otter.

"There's at least ten more people Harry!" Elara cried, looking around the room wildly. "They s-said there were… They said there were eleven being questioned today! We have to g-get them-

"We will." Harry said. He reached out, grabbing Elara's face in his hands. Her eyes met his. "Look at me, Ellie. Just look at me."

She stared into his eyes, tilting her head as they shifted from brown to emerald. "Oh-oh Merlin! Harry it's wearing off! The p-potion is-

"It doesn't matter," He said. His voice was calm and commanding. Elara briefly wondered if that was because he was polyjuiced or because he was using a tone she had never heard him take with her before. "The potion is wearing off, that is the least of our issues right now. I need you to calm down. You have to calm down. We have to get out of here and we can't do it if you don't cast a Patronus, okay? You have to do it. The only way we are saving all those people is if we can get out of this room."

She nodded. "Yeah." She took in several deep breaths, trying to get her nerves under control. "Yeah, okay. Okay, I can do this." She said, more to herself than to him.

"I know you can do this, Ellie. I know you can. Come on, now."

She closed her eyes, feeling wet lashes against the tops of her cheeks as she dug deep for anything she could think of. Summers in the pond. Draco and Blaise teaching me to fly. Mum singing. Christmas pies. Fred's jokes. Studying with Hermione in the library. Dancing with Ron at the wedding. Kissing Harry. The first time he said I love you. The bathtub. Banana Muffins.

"Expecto Patronum!" She cried, her wand pointed high and her eyes still closed. The magic thrummed through her fingertips and out the end of her wand and an instant warmth filled her to her toes.

"Brilliant, Ellie!" Harry cheered.

She opened her eyes to a large, albino peacock making its way around the room.

"A peacock?!" Ron said, shocked. "Your patronus is a peacock? I didn't even know you could have a patronus that looked wealthy! All I've got is this stupid little mutt!"

Elara laughed loudly, her energy returning to her as the regal bird continued to make its way around the room. "What else would you expect from a Malfoy, Ron?"

"From a Malfoy wearing dirty muggle jeans and my brother's tee shirt half the time? I don't know! Not a bloody peacock! A ferret, maybe?"

"I'll hex you." She warned.

Ron laughed and pulled the very confused Mary Cattermole from the chair. "Come on then, let's go!"

"Hermione, the locket?" Elara called, looking around the room.

A curly head of hair poked up from the dais, her arm held high as the locket dangled from her hand. "I duplicated it! I didn't want her to make connections that its been stolen. Ellie, your hair…"

"Yours too!" Ellie called. "We've got to go."

Harry nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her swiftly behind him as he led the way out of the courtroom. Sitting on the benches, cowering away from the Dementors, were the remaining ten people that were sent down for interrogation.

"Who has wands?" Harry asked.

Hesitant hands were raised, about half of the people had wands.

"Good. If you have a wand, pair up with someone who doesn't. Follow the Patronuses to the lifts. Leave. Get out of here, out of the country if you can." He instructed.

"There's been a break in," One of the wizards said. "I-I overheard a few officials talking…"

"Yeah, we're aware of that, mate." Ron said. "Come on, let's go!"

Ron stayed in the middle of the group, Hermione rearing behind as they moved toward the lifts.

"Harry, we can't- Ungh-" She groaned as her bones shifted painfully. Shrinking her a few inches to her normal height. "We can't all fit in the same lift!"

"Ron, Hermione, take half up with you. We'll take the others!" Harry called.

Ron and Hermione shoved themselves into the lift with as many of the people they could fit with them. Harry and Elara followed suit, four of the additional detainees in the lift with them. As the lift doors clanged shut, Elara saw the courtroom doors burst open.

"What do we do, Harry? How are we going to get all of these people out-

"Harry?" One of the witches behind them said. "Harry Potter?"

"Yeah, Hi. Pleased to meet you. As soon as we get to the Atrium you all need to get out. The Floo-

"Is being sealed." The same wizard who explained that he knew the Ministry had been infiltrated by them, spoke. "The man I heard said they were sealing off the exits and-

"Then we'll force our way out. This bloke, Runcorn, he's apparently got some power here." Harry explained. "We'll distract them from sealing it off. You all need to get out. Out of the country, out of town. Get home, get your families, and leave."

Elara scrunched up her face as she felt her nose shifting into place, her eyes growing larger and her chin coming to a point.

"You!" An older witch said. "You-you're a Malfoy! You're the one that's been on the cover of the Prophet!"

"Yes," Elara said, losing patience. "Yes I am. Please don't turn me in. I know it's a lot of money but I'd really prefer not to return back to Malfoy Manor anytime soon."

The grate of the lift opened and they stepped into the Atrium. It was complete mayhem. There were MLE wizards everywhere, sealing off the exits and shouting orders at the wizards controlling the Floo Network.

"STOP!" Harry yelled, the loud booming voice of Runcorn filling the Atrium.

"We were told to seal the exits, sir." A wiry, balding man said.

"I'm telling you now to unseal them. Or do I need to look into your family tree as well?" Harry replied, arching an eyebrow.

"No, no sir. Of course not."

Harry turned to the group, which was now joined by the group Ron and Hermione had led. "Get out. Now. Leave and do not, under any circumstances come back here."

A very confused Mary Cattermole was crying in the arms of her real husband, who looked accusingly at Ron as his hair began shifting from grey to red. The group rushed from their side and one by one disappeared through the Floo.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked. "Harry, where do we go? We can't apparate!"

"Floo back to Grimmauld." Harry said. "We floo back and apparate out immediately."

Hermione nodded and grabbed Harry and Ron's hands, leading them to the floo. Harry laced his fingers with Elara's and they all shoved themselves into the fireplace. As Harry called the address out, Elara screamed as she felt someone grab her free wrist.

"No!" She yelled. "No, let go!"

Yaxley bared his teeth, snarling at her as they were whisked into a swirl of green flames. His grip bruising her ankle as he made to grab for her wrist. The moment they stumbled out of the fireplace at Grimmauld place, Elara screamed,"Go! Apparate! Now!"

As the feeling of being shoved through a very tight tube threatened to take the breath from her lungs, she stole one last look at Harry and let go of his hand. Mid-apparition, she kicked Yaxley hard in the nose and tried to think of any destination to fall to.

She landed with a thud against the ground of Savernake Forest. As she looked around, trying to figure out what to do, a burning hot pain tore up her side, wrapping around her left shoulder and cutting into her bicep. She looked down, panic bubbling in her chest as the blood began to seep through the robes she stole from Marianne Cleary.

"I've been splinched." She gasped, the ground below her spinning as everything went black and she collapsed into the grass.

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a/n: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I'm not sure if anyone got the update emails for chapter 18? It didn't seem like there was very much traffic on it, like way less than usual so idk what that's about. I'm assuming FFN is just having a fit. _

anyway, COME JOIN MY FB GROUP! I made a really cool manip of the dementors for this chapter and I'd love for you to see it! look up Mimifreed Writing on FB! :)

Thanks for reading! Please remember to review!

xo

mimi